The independence of the judiciary is being actively undermined. Judges have been subjected to pressure and disciplinary procedures for judgements which go against the government line. That this situation has been allowed to develop in Poland is unacceptable.
21/02/2014 – Amnesty International has welcomed the decision of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General to open an investigation into the alleged rendition to Lithuania of Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The decision comes after the Vilnius Regional Court ruled on 28 January that al-Hawsawi had a right to an investigation of his claims.
16/07/2013 – Following the vote of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament to adopt the Directive on the right of criminal suspects to access a lawyer and to communicate with consular officials and other third parties upon arrest (the “Directive”), our organisations – national and international NGOs working on justice and human rights – write to recognise the achievement of the European Commission, Council and Parliament on reaching agreement on this important instrument.
16/04/2013 – After eight months of intensive discussions, the two legislators, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the European Union appear willing to conclude the negotiation of a new Directive that will set common minimum standards on the right of access to a lawyer and the right to communicate with third parties when detained, for persons suspected or accused of a crime in the EU.
30/11/2012 – Ahead of the discussion in LIBE on the state of negotiations on the proposed Directive on the right of access to a lawyer and the right to communicate upon arrest (the Directive), Amnesty International is calling on the European Parliament to pursue its efforts to ensure that the legislative process is conducted scrupulously and that it defends the positions it expressed in the orientation vote (OV) in July.
23/07/2012 – Amnesty International welcomed a new European Parliament (EP) report that again urges implicated EU member states to investigate their involvement in the CIA’s rendition and secret detention programmes.
26/10/2011 – Amnesty International has welcomed the Commission’s directive proposal on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings. But it has expressed concern that the negotiations in the Council appear to weaken the proposal and call into question the role of EU legislation to enforce progressive human rights standards.
30/09/2011 – The enactment of a standardised set of defence rights that meet or exceed international human rights standards is a necessary precondition to mutual recognition amongst Member States in the criminal justice area.
21/09/2011 – Observations by Amnesty International on the Commission’s proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and on the right to communicate upon arrest